The Reason Florida Has Two Time Zones

A tourist driving across the Florida Panhandle is often surprised when they check the time on their phone.

Floridians in the western part of the state run an hour behind the rest, and the reason goes back further than you might think.

Here’s the story behind where the clocks split.

Where the Line Runs

The boundary between Eastern and Central time in Florida is written out in Section 71.5 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

That boundary starts at the southwest corner of Georgia and reaches the Apalachicola River on the downstream side of Jim Woodruff Dam.

From there, it runs south down the middle of the river’s main channel until the river meets the Jackson River.

Land west of that line is on Central time under the rules.

Land east of it is on Eastern time.

If you drive west over the Apalachicola River in the northern Panhandle, you leave Eastern time and enter Central time.

Your clock drops an hour.

Who Sets the Boundary

Federal law, not state law, controls where Florida’s two time zones divide.

A 2022 Department of Transportation inspector general report traces that control to the Standard Time Act of 1918, which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission responsibility for zone boundaries.

Congress moved that authority to the Department of Transportation when it created the department in 1966.

Today the Department of Transportation defines the boundaries in Part 71 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

If you want to check your clock yourself, the regulation lists the boundary in rivers, a waterway and a county line.

The Convenience-of-Commerce Test

The legal test for a time zone boundary centers on commerce.

Under 15 U.S.C. 261, the Secretary of Transportation sets zone boundaries with regard for “the convenience of commerce.”

The statute also tells the Secretary to weigh where common carriers in interstate commerce have their junction points and division points.

Congress gave the Interstate Commerce Commission that job in the Standard Time Act of 1918.

The same 2022 report found the department reads the phrase broadly, to cover every way a boundary would affect a community.

So a boundary has to make sense for how you and your neighbors do business, not only for where the sun sits.

In Gulf County, the tourism office says shipping and railroad industries wanted to keep the coastal areas on Eastern time.

Psst! How much do you know about Florida’s time zones? Flip through these myth-or-fact cards and see how many you can get right.

Gulf County, Cut in Two

Gulf County is where the boundary leaves the Apalachicola River.

From there, the federal boundary runs west along the Intracoastal Waterway to the west line of Gulf County, then turns south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Land north of the waterway in Gulf County falls in the Central zone.

Land south of it falls in the Eastern zone.

Gulf County’s tourism office calls the county the only county in Florida with two time zones.

If you drive north across the waterway there, you switch time zones without leaving the county.

The line keeps most of Port St. Joe and all the communities and beach towns to the south in the Eastern zone.

Changing a Boundary

A time zone boundary can change, and the process starts with a petition.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics says a petition to move a boundary must come from the top political officials in a state or locality.

If you wanted your Panhandle county to switch clocks, the request would start with your local or state leaders.

Then the Department of Transportation applies the same convenience-of-commerce test.

Since 1999, 16 localities in five states have changed time zones, an inspector general report found.

The Sunshine Protection Act

The Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 would repeal the federal daylight saving time dates.

The U.S. House passed the bill, H.R. 139, on July 14, 2026.

The vote was 308 to 117, according to CBS News.

Florida Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan introduced it.

The Senate received the bill on July 15 and referred it to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

The bill also cuts the hour offsets that 15 U.S.C. 261 lists for each zone, Eastern and Central included, by one hour.

If it becomes law, you’d set your clocks once instead of twice a year.

Florida’s 2018 Daylight Saving Law

Florida’s 2018 daylight saving law is section 1.025 of the Florida Statutes.

It applies only if Congress amends 15 U.S.C. 260a to let states observe daylight saving time year-round.

A Florida Senate staff analysis of the 2018 bill says it states future intent and doesn’t require a switch.

Florida still follows the seasonal schedule in 15 U.S.C. 260a, which runs daylight saving time from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.